Sweden taking positives from OT loss in 4 Nations Face-Off opener 

MONTREAL – Sweden was right there, so close to pulling off the comeback against Canada after trailing by two goals on two separate occasions.

And while Sweden couldn’t completely overcome a slow start, it certainly made a statement with its resilience, rallying with two third-period goals to force overtime before falling 4-3 at Bell Centre.

“It definitely happens but obviously you have all the (Canadian) fans at your back and everything, so they came out more excited to play than we were,” forward Adrian Kempe said. “But after 10 minutes in the first period, I think honestly we felt like we were the better team the rest of the game.

“Obviously, we were down two goals going into the third, so it was a strong comeback and we’ll take the one point. We’re happy about the comeback.”

Canada, which got two points with the overtime win, and Sweden, which got one, are off on Thursday while the United States plays Finland (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS).

Given Sweden’s rough start under relentless pressure from Canada, it certainly didn’t look like it would turn into the tremendous game it eventually was. William Nylander was called for high-sticking 44 seconds into the game, and Canada capitalized with Nathan MacKinnon’s power-play goal 12 seconds later.

“Really tough start, unintentional high stick there on the first shift, some big plays from some big (Canadian) players,” Sweden coach Sam Hallam said.

“(Early) we weren’t where we wanted to be in our game. I think our movement was really low. I think our puck management wasn’t up to the level we expected it to be. But at the same time, there were five Canadian players chasing us around, too, forcing us to look that bad.”

Sweden was also making life easy for Canada goaltender Jordan Binnington, who didn’t see a shot on net until Gustav Forsling finally tested him 17:16 into the first period.

“The first period, I felt we were a little bit stressed with the puck, but they were coming really hard too and we knew that, especially the first 15 minutes,” defenseman Jonas Brodin said. “But then after that, I thought we did a great job in the second and third.

“We talked about it after first, to calm it down and make some plays. And I thought we did.”

Clearly, the talk worked. Sweden looked calmer, more composed once the second period began. They managed the puck better, they started getting some opportunities against Canada and the Bell Centre crowd, raucous through the first period, was much quieter.

The Swedes also got great goaltending from Filip Gustavsson, who made 24 saves, including six in the third period and seven in overtime.

“It’s a lot of emotions there. Everyone wants to beat Canada. They’re supposed to be the best team in the world and everyone wants to go out there and beat them,” Gustavsson said. “After the first 10 minutes, I thought we were right with them the whole game.”

Sweden saved its best for the third period, though. Kempe cut the deficit to 3-2 at 1:54, racing down the slot and beating Binnington with a wrist shot from between the circles. Joel Eriksson Ek tied it at 8:59, taking a cross-slot pass from Jesper Bratt at the right post, corralling the puck and shooting over Binnington, who had gone down to prevent a low shot.

The Swedes couldn’t capitalize in a fast and furious overtime, but they weren’t focusing on the negative. They pulled together, made this a memorable game and got a point. They just need a much better start against Finland on Saturday.

“Once we got the puck by their defense, forecheck, we started getting on a little bit of a roll in the O-zone,” Kempe said. “I think we played really well there and had more time and just tried to get more pucks toward the net, create more rebounds, all that kind of stuff. It’s the same things but that’s just how it is.

“In the beginning of the first period, we were just standing there looking a little bit. Once we started moving our feet a little more in the neutral zone, coming in on the forecheck, all that stuff, I think we played much better. That’s something we have to go and look at tomorrow and hopefully we can keep forechecking as good as we did in the third.”